JERUSALEM (JTA) — The more Jewish Israel is, the more democratic it will become, the nation’s justice minister wrote in a new journal.
The legal system in Israel should strengthen its Jewish nature, Ayelet Shaked wrote in the inaugural issue of the Hebrew language policy journal Hashiloach, published by the Tikva Fund.
“When we wish to put Israel through advanced democratization processes, we must simultaneously deepen its Jewish identity,” Shaked wrote. “These identities are not contradictory. On the contrary: I believe they reinforce one another. I believe the more Jewish a state we are, the more democratic a state we will be, and that the more democratic a state we are, the more Jewish a state we will be.”
The legal system must take the Jewishness of the state into account in concrete ways, Shaked also wrote.
She also called for more separation of powers, and to strengthen Israel’s legislative branch vis-a-vis the judicial branch.
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